Housewife, 54

You know how people say "come visit", and even though you would LIKE to, it never seems to get organized?  Well that has happened to us with my husband's sister.  She lives on the West Coast and has asked us to come many times, but we say "sometime we would like that" but have never set the date - too far, not enough money...  But this year, I saw that the International Master Gardener Conference was to be held in Portland, so since S-i-L is also a Master Gardner, I figured it was TIME.  We scheduled to go to the Conference together, going a few days early to spend time with them at their home on the Coast.  It was great! Sunset out our bedroom window. Oregon Pacific Coast.    On our first day, they took us to a hiking trail just North of where they live.  You go from a parking area along a highway, along a path through an old growth forest. It was marvelous!  I had never seen an original Northwest forest. Amazing! Hiking i...

We have instituted a Summer Family Vacation. This is based on two ideas: our kids usually come home at Thanksgiving for the long weekend, and that is wonderful - we always have a good time.  But when our kids were growing up, my cousin started a Family Campout weekend where we would all have a time set aside every year to stay in touch and spend time together.  Since our kids live so far apart, I wanted to make a summer vacation where we spent time together, too. We started last year and had a good time. D-i-L found a house on the Mississippi River, centrally located to all of us.  We ate, we drank, we took road trips (pictured) and we played games. This will forever be known as "the year of the jet-propelled poop".  Don't ask... just laugh along with us! Dublin Square Irish Pub and Eatery, LaCrosse, WI This year, we also rented a house on the Mississippi, but on Lake Pepin.  It was even better! Nice house, neat town, close to beach. We ate, we drank...